


not friends.

by bledstars



Category: Naruto, 恋与制作人 | Liàn Yǔ Zhì Zuò Rén | Mr. Love: Queen's Choice (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/M, friends with benefits? sort of?, sakura is universe hopping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:42:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27763942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bledstars/pseuds/bledstars
Summary: define the relationship. complicated? a little more than friends, a little less than lovers? strangers finding comfort in each other? a secret? a mistake?
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Xǔ Mò | Lucien
Comments: 5
Kudos: 10





	not friends.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ceeya (ceeya)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceeya/gifts).



Lucien didn’t know when it started or why he was so bothered by her.According to his colleagues she had bubblegum pink hair, but why would someone ever willingly have that sort of hair color. Maybe it was her hair was the reason why she bothered him. The mystery as to why someone with her intelligence would dye her hair such a ridiculous color. Or maybe it was when she looked up at him, she wasn’t charmed, she wasn’t enchanted, she saw through him. 

And how unnerving it was. To feel naked, vulnerable, in front of a stranger. 

So, Lucien decided to nip it in the bud. To figure out the mystery that was the new Professor Haruno. To categorize her, to put her into a box so that he could move one with his life. To not be bothered by the walking enigma. 

“We’re not friends.” She said as she stared at the food that he placed on top of her desk. She had been spending nights at the laboratory and he noticed that she was about to open up the cup ramen that she had pulled out from her drawers. But the way her shoulder stiffened up as she stared at the hot food that he brought. 

Her small tongue licked her bottom lip and he watched it move slowly. 

“Not even close.” He said with a roughness at the edge of his voice before he pulled out his own food from the second bag. “But I needed company to eat with and since you’re already here…you know that stuff will kill you, right?” He motioned to the ramen that was now forgotten to the side as she opened up the bag of takeout “The amount of chemicals they put in that…” 

“I had a friend that used to ramen on a daily basis. He came out fine.” Her voice was softer than he had ever heard before. He peaked to look at her and saw the small smile on her lips, lost in her own thoughts before she shook her head and opened the box of food. “Wow…real food.” 

“Yes. Real food. You know..that the campus cafeteria has real food, right?” 

“I’m not stupid. I just..” She took out her chopsticks and snapped it apart before stirring the food together. “I just lose track of time…And ramen is convenient.” 

“Life is more than just about—”

“I really don’t need a lecture, Professor Lucien. Especially from someone that barely looks like he’s living himself.” Her tone was cool before she put a chopstick full of food into her mouth and let out a sound of pleasure at the taste. “I know what I’m living for. I know who I’m living for. And it’s..” Her jaw tightened, her hand clenched tightly around the chopsticks. She chewed slowly before grabbing some more food. “It’s not here.” 

“Not here. In this University? In Loveland? In this universe?” 

“Don’t ask me questions that I don’t want to answer.” She said before picking up a dumpling and putting it into her mouth. Chewing slowly before she gazed up at him. “Or I might ask you to reveal a secret or two." 

There it was again. That look of complete apathy of the world around her. He had overheard a colleague ask her why she became a researcher, and she said it was the only civilian job that suited her. What a strange answer, but then again, the woman herself was strange. One moment he didn’t know a thing about Professor Haruno, the next, he was reading papers she wrote, watching lectures she gave, thinking about the theories she rose. 

Like she appeared out of thin air, she became a fixture in his life that he could not shake away. And there was only one person that took that role in his life. To have a second, it was… _strange._ She was strange. Whatever this was, eating takeout in her office, was strange. 

He did not expect to find her at the bar by herself. But then again, he also didn’t expect her to call him for a ride. Her head on top of the bar as she drew circles around the rim of her glass. Her eyes looked dazed as she let out a sigh. Tapping her shoulder, she lifted her head and gave him a sad smile. It was the first time he had seen her have an expression with so much weight. It looked wrong. To see those big eyes with tears threatening to fall, to see how the corners her lips twitched. He didn’t like it at all. 

“Let’s get you home, Haruno.” He said with small tight frown. He had thought he had her figured out. She was someone that kept people at distance. Her genius was similar to his. He thought they shared a kinship, people who found the world to slow and boring. And yet here she was breaking whatever box he placed her in. 

“We’re not friends.” She said as she saw him and he helped her to her feet. He scoffed at the comment. She tripped over the steps and he held her a bit tighter against the side of his body. The loopy smile, the way she looked at him and let her hair fall in front of her face. She was attractive, that was something he would not deny. 

“So, why did you call me and not one of your friends.” He said with an annoyed expression as he helped her out and felt the winter winds sharply hit his cheeks. 

“Because all of my friends aren’t here.” She sighed before she looked at him silently and then leaned in to press her lips against his. His violet eyes widened slightly before he pulled in closer.Her small body pressed into his and he felt hot. 

_Strange_. That was what this was. _A bad idea._ He thought again, as he felt her slim fingers tugging at his brown locks as she pulled him in for another kiss. She tasted like the sake she had been downing the entire evening. “Haruno…” 

“Sakura.” She sighed against his lips before she pulled away and ran a hand through her long hair. “Maybe I assumed incorrectly. My…”Before she could even finish her next sentence, he pulled her hand and brought her back towards him.

“Then call me Lucien.” He whispered back to her before cupping her face gently. He bowed down and kissed her lips again and enjoyed the strangely intoxicating taste that was so uniquely hers. 

He watched as she got up from his bed and picked up the shirt from the ground. Slowly putting it on, she pulled out her hair from under the shirt. Whatever this was, it had continued after that night, it continued and now they were approaching to almost a year of this indescribable thing. “You know you don’t have to leave in the morning. We can go to work together.” He said as he let his fingers reach out and touch the ends of her hair.

The small smile on her lips as she turned to look at him from over her shoulder. “That would be nice…but how would we explain why we showed up at the same time when we don’t even live in the same part of town.” 

He hummed as he watched her get up and slowly get her remaining clothes from the floor. Getting up from his bed, he looked at her from the mirror before he wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his lips into the nape of her neck. “Would it be that hard?” 

“Well…We aren’t friends.” 

“Mmnn…because friends actually know a thing or two about each other.” 

“And we both have secrets that we’d like to keep.” 

A part of him wondered what her EVOL was. There was no record of her in the Black Swan database or any database, but he was sure that she was an EVOLVER. There was no doubt about it. She was immune to his hypnosis but she just smugly said that she was always good at breaking through illusions. It would explain her strange hair color. When he noticed how soft it felt, he knew it couldn’t have been unnatural despite it’s strange hue. And that was the thing about Sakura, the more time he spent with her, the less he felt like he knew her. Once he understood one part of her, there was five other things waiting to be discovered.

“If I told you a secret….Would you tell me one of yours?” 

There was a pause. Her closed eyes slowly opened and he could almost picture the emerald green that was described to him once. She turned around and put her arms over his shoulder before giving him a small smile. 

“No. Because we aren’t friends.”

“We could be.” 

“No. We can’t. Because I made the choice to never make friends with people who can leave….or who I can leave.” 

She had been waiting in front of his apartment, her arms crossed before she lifted her head to greet him. She gave him a small wave and he greeted her with a kiss. “You know the code to my apartment. “ 

“I just wanted to wait for you.” 

“Careful, Sakura. You may make me think we’re friends.” He took her hand and led her into his place. He took off his coat and put it over his dining room chair along with his bag. Lucien then pulled the hand he was holding and brought her into his arms for another kiss. “I haven’t seen you in quite a while. I got…” 

Was he worried? Was he concerned? Why would he be? This strange relationship that he had grown fond of. Two people that held secrets from each other but felt comfort in each other’s arms and the silence and quiet agreement to never dive too deep. Did he want more? Wasn’t this the sort of relationship he wanted since he was not chosen? Because _she_ chose someone else and he could only watch from the sidelines as she lived a life full of color while he lived in them monochromatic world. 

“I figured it out.” 

“Figured what out? “

“Everything.” She said before she pushed him on top of his bed and gently put her hands over his eyes. “Do you trust me?” 

“Trust you?” He pulled at her hand and when his eyes met hers, he saw the way she looked at him. There was a warmth, a sincerity that made his heart shake. “I thought we weren’t friends.” 

Her eyes trembled, her lower lip quivering slightly before she forced a smile onto her soft pink lips. “Yeah, we aren’t friends.” She whispered back at him before she cupped his face and lowered her lips to meet his. “But do you trust me?” 

He paused for a moment before he closed his eyes and slowly lifted her hand to cover his eyes. “I trust you.” His voice said before giving her wrist a gentle squeeze. He felt a warmth from her hand, then like cool water, something else washed over his eyes. And soon the pressure of her hand was gone, and he could feel her hand lightly touch his cheek. 

“Open your eyes.” 

The light was a bit bright but then he saw it. _Oh._ Her hair. Her pink hair that he thought would look silly was soft as it framed her face.Her eyes were an emerald green, so deep and full of life as they stared down at him gently. So, this was how Haruno Sakura looked like. He felt like this was a new experience, to see her with every aspect of her, the pink hair, the green eyes, the nude lipstick that she wore. She looked more beautiful and he didn’t think that was possible. 

“I can see you….I can see….all of you.” He whispered softly as his eyes took in the color around him. Looking at the shades and hues that surrounded him before he looked back at the woman before him. “How did you…I’ve…the things they’ve done to me…I never thought I would be able to…” 

“My ex-boyfriend had a problem with his eyes too…Chakra…blockage.”

“Chakra blockage?” 

“Don’t worry, it’ll just affect your sight. Nothing else. You’d still have all your special secret abilities.” She didn't explain her words. She didn't explain how she was able to do the impossible. She didn't explain anything but give him a small smile and let her fingers brush against his cheek. Then he came to the realization that she knew. She knew of his abilities. She knew them more than he thought she did. 

“You knew?” 

“I’ve been surrounded by people with secret gifts. It’s easy to see and figure it out if you’re someone like me.” 

“Who are you?” 

She pressed a finger to his lips and shook her head.

"Why did you do this?"

She brushed away a piece of his hair away from his eyes before she leaned in to kiss his lips slowly and pull away from his grasp. He didn’t like it. He didn’t like that she was crafting a new wall between them. “Consider it my farewell gift.” 

“Farewell gift?” He tightened his grip on her wrist at the notion of her leaving. 

“I told you..I figured it all out.” 

“…You found a way to go back to where you came from.” 

“Yeah. I did.” 

“You were never part of this world.” 

“No.” 

“Can’t you stay?” He asked as he touched a piece of her pink hair. Soft, the color, the texture, everything about it was soft. “Can’t you…” _Stay with me?_ _Be with me? Not leave me like everyone else?_ He wanted her to stay. Desperately, he wanted to hold her to him. He didn't know when it began, but ever since she entered his life, the days didn't seem so long and dull. They didn't seem..painful. 

“This is why I told you we aren’t friends. So, it would be easier for you let me go. To forget about me. ” Her voice cracked before she leaned in to press her forehead against his. “I have people I have to go back to….People I left…” 

“Don’t leave me.” 

“We’re not friends.” 

“Then be my friend. Be mine.” 

“Lucien…” 

“Sakura…You can’t just leave…not when I haven’t begun to understand who you are…what you are…You…” 

“You’ll forget about me in due time.” 

“I don’t think I can.” 

“You’ll have to try…After all…we’re not friends.” She repeated the words. Like a spell she tried to cast on him. But as he gripped her wrist tightly, he knew that it due to time, this warmth would be something he couldn't find. That she saved him from drowning but was now leaving him on the shore. He pulled her hand and buried his face into her stomach and held her tightly. 

“You’re a cruel woman.” He muttered into her shirt. 

“I know….and I’m sorry.” 

**Author's Note:**

> a promised oneshot for miss ceeya! i hope you enjoy this! it's weird doing a crossover.......but ..you know....i love you <3


End file.
